The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
Diesel engines combust diesel fuel in the presence of air to produce power. The combustion of diesel fuel produces exhaust that contains particulate matter (PM). The PM may be filtered from the exhaust by a PM filter. Over time, the PM may accumulate within the PM filter and may restrict the flow of exhaust through the PM filter. PM that has collected within the PM filter may be removed by a process referred to as regeneration. During regeneration, PM within the PM filter may be combusted.
Regeneration may be accomplished, for example, by injecting fuel into the flow of exhaust upstream of the PM filter and combusting the injected fuel. Combustion of the injected fuel generates heat, thereby increasing the temperature of the exhaust entering the PM filter. The increased temperature of the exhaust may cause PM accumulated within the PM filter to combust. A resistive heater may be located at an upstream end of the PM filter to supply additional heat to the exhaust entering the PM filter.